Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Forty-Seven where I post a topic and then challenge you to come up with a 100 word story based on that topic.
The topic this week was… was…. um…
It’s Running With The Cool Kids.
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING
Go ahead and listen to them and then vote for your favorites (multiple selections are allowed):
Caleb
In my rural high school the cool kids were all Jesus freaks but I couldn’t stop from asking, “if Jesus wanted to get his message to mankind, why’d it take hundreds of years to reach western Europe and another thousand to reach the new world? The cool kids just told me to shut it.
But when Shiva, The Destroyer, came to Monroe High wielding swords of flame to mow down the nonbelievers; I found myself running for my life with the cool kids.
Down to the Burger Shack. Gotta have one last bacon double cheeseburger before converting to Hinduism. OM
Daily Panic
In the fifth grade, he smoked cigarettes. He was the first guy to date a girl. All of his friends were cool; hanging with them just happened. We all rode our bicycles together in the neighborhood. By the eighth grade, the cool kids had older siblings that had driver’s license. From riding bikes to riding in cars, the cool kids went places. Boundaries pushed. We all felt bigger than life, rules or guidance.
Today grown up, those cool kids are still cool. We are parents, policemen, fire fighters, film makers, school teachers, coaches, and fifth grade smoker became a mayor.
Justin
When I was too young to remember, my parents took me to Nepal. A goat-herder found me wrapped in blankets, my parents outside the tent, dead from sickness. He took me in and raised me as his own. I was about seven when the village was slaughtered by raiders. I nearly died from exposure in the Himalayas, where I had fled when the village was ignited. I was rescued by a yeti. I was treated like an outcast for a while by the other yeti children, but before long I was playing with them like I was one of them.
Daphne
Susan spent the summer making herself over. She saved up enough money and got a new clothes, shoes and make-up. She spent her evenings trying on outfits until she got it just right. The first day of school was coming and she was ready for it. Well almost ready. Due to a freak storm it was 25 degrees and very icy on that day. Susan didn’t care she was wearing her outfit as is, no coat, no boots. The bus stop was cold and icy. She learned running with the cool kids can lead to frostbite and sprained ankles.
Guy David
I had to join the party, I mean, let’s face it… they had the best ice suits around. Their agenda didn’t matter. What mattered was their beautiful blue skins, the rolling popsicle hairs of the candidates. I just wanted to be one of them. I went through the ritual acceptance ceremony, then I was in, fitted with my very own shiny ice suit. I was in, then we got elected.
Later that year, after the country was ruined by the war I decided to drop my membership. The red devils where the new cool kids, so I joined them instead.
Ashley
“If you want to keep running with the cool kids, you’ll stop thinking and just throw it,” said Jake.
I closed my eyes and heaved, then ran for my life with the rest. Glancing back, I saw Jessica covered in eggs and weeping.
About twenty years later I looked her up to tell her I was sorry and that I didn’t deserve her forgiveness.
She responded by offering compassion and, after awhile, her heart.
In high school I treated Jessica with scorn. If the fates allow, I will happily spend the rest of my life treating her like a queen.
Norval Joe
I was in high school in the late 70’s.
We had all the normal cliques; jocks, rah-rahs, burn outs, geeks, band freaks, drama fags, born agains, and student government.
There was some crossover; jocks in student government, burn outs in drama, and lots of geeks in the band. Whether you felt you were running with the cool kids or not, was mostly your own psychology.
There was one girl, named Janine, that was always alone; in class, at lunch and walking home.
I regret that I was too absorbed in my own psychology to make her welcome in our crowd.
Terrence
They all line up at the starting line. The boy stands in the first lane, ready for the gun to fire.
Bang!
The boy takes off, his legs pumping, ignoring the crashing and snapping sounds behind him as the finish line gets closer with each stride. His heart beats heavy and his shoes pound down into the ground. Sweat rolls down his face as he breaks the tape. Raising his arms in victory the boy yells out a cheer.
“I win!”
Looking back he sees the broken stick arms and snapped carrot noses. No snowman will ever out run him.
Tom
Jimmy was buck naked. He had just moved to Juno so badly wanted to fit in he was willing to join in the 1000 yard dash in the snow. Unfortunately for Jimmy and the other cool kids it was also the local wolf pack’s Run For Hungry 500 yard dash. The scene was like a arctic San Fermín. Fur and flesh snow and blood. Jimmy would have made it to the safety of the gym if only he had been able to get around Sarah Palin. Seem she’s a better shot from a plane then the ground. Too bad Jimmy.
Anima
Abe was stumped.
The Ball was his invitation into “polite society”, and he wanted to make a good first impression. Growing up in rural Kentucky, Abe had never “run with the cool kids”. Here it was Thursday, and he still hadn’t decided on a date for the weekend.
There was saucy Rebecca Stevens, with her fiery wit, or social Mary Todd, with a sweet temperament and a rich daddy.
Scratching the stubble on his chin, Abe reached into his pocket, pulled out a penny, and flicked it in the air.
“Heads it’s Mary, Tails, ‘Becca,” he said, smirking to himself.
Mike P.
In any social circle, you have to start at the bottom and work your
way up. It’s no different with the cool kids.
You have to start out working the water stops. For a while, you’re
doing nothing but filling cups with water and Gatorade.
After a year or so, you’re allowed to jog along with them and wipe
sweat off their foreheads.
Two or three years of that, and they’ll let you help them quick-change
into fresh running shorts (preventing chafing is key).
At that point, you’re no more than a decade from running with the cool kids.
Michael S.
I’ve always been a jogger and since I sweat in a snowball fight it stands to reason I’ve always been a sweater.
The older I get the more I sweat but I’ve noticed this young crowd doesn’t sweat a drop.
How do they do that?
I also noticed they invite me to jog with them.
It makes them look good and makes me look like I’m the only one really working on the task at hand.
Me ……….. I call it running with the cool kids.
Planet Z
Valentine’s Day in the embryo vault, buried below what’s left of the Antarctic frost.
There are nine redundant monitoring systems. When all nine find a fault, it is repaired. When one finds a fault or fails to find a fault with the others, it is repaired by the engineering robots.
We put these systems on a combination of solar and wind power. It runs on its own, keeping the children of the future cyrogenically protected from what their ancestors are doing to the present.
But in true short-sighted fashion, we have yet to build the revival and automated nanny systems.